Miller, Elliott being on the mend blurs OSU picture day

By TIM MAY

In baseball parlance, Braxton Miller isn’t ready yet to pitch a full game, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer indicated today, but as he also pointed out, the season opener is still weeks away.

“If the game was tomorrow, with where he’s at (in terms of coming from the late winter surgey on his right throwing shoulder), we’d be very cautious with Braxton,” Meyer said. “But we’ve got three weeks.”

The coach spoke to the media during the team’s annual preseason “picture day” at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. It was no surprise that the status of Miller – the Big Ten’s reigning two-time Silver Football winner – was a major topic of discussion.

Miller has been the on the mend since suffering the shoulder injury in the Orange Bowl loss to Clemson. Though he has been throwing during preseason camp, as Meyer said, the idea has been to err on the side of caution in terms of repetitions, especially after he experienced some muscle soreness after Friday’s session.

“I feel good,” Miller said today. “I could throw right now. I'm just resting up. Tomorrow, I'll get back at it.”

No.1 running back Ezekiel Elliott won’t get back at it for several days at least after suffering a cracked bone in his left wrist on Friday when he landed funny after catching a pass. He had surgery early Saturday in which a pin was placed in the affected area to better hold it in position for healing, but with a little rest and proper padding he expects to return to action in a week or so.

Just like in the case with Miller, “I should be ready for the first game,” Elliott said, referring to the opener on Aug.30 against Navy in Baltimore. And as Meyer said, that's three weeks away.